Hoverfly Can I program the Turnigy ESC using the HFP?

[Webheadfred]

Greetings all...
After a short little hiatus, I'm off on another build and I have a question. I know you can program the throttle endpoints on the ESC using the HoverFly Pro after you've used the client and properly set the throttle there. Can I also program the ESC's using the throttle and program all of them at once while they're connected? It seems as I've somehow smoked my Turnigy programmer and I'm manually doing each one when this occurred to me. I've soldered each ESC to the Avroto (a HUGE improvement over the RCTimer3536-11) and I'm testing the rotation direction and programming the ESC at that time before I assemble the X8. Just wondering if anyone has tried this.

Best Regards,
Fred

 

[Bartman]

Greetings all...
After a short little hiatus, I'm off on another build and I have a question. I know you can program the throttle endpoints on the ESC using the HoverFly Pro after you've used the client and properly set the throttle there. Can I also program the ESC's using the throttle and program all of them at once while they're connected? It seems as I've somehow smoked my Turnigy programmer and I'm manually doing each one when this occurred to me. I've soldered each ESC to the Avroto (a HUGE improvement over the RCTimer3536-11) and I'm testing the rotation direction and programming the ESC at that time before I assemble the X8. Just wondering if anyone has tried this.

Best Regards,
Fred

Fred,

I don't think you can program the ESC's with the HF PRO board although you can can calibrate them simultaneously with them plugged into the HF PRO. The first step of the ESC throttle calibration happens with the transmitter and ESC's, the second step happens with the HF plugged into the Setup Client. THere's a procedure for the second part in the Knowledgebase area of their website.

Bart

 

[yeehaanow]

If I remember correctly, you can boot up at full throttle and then the HFP will work in stick programming mode, so you can then program all the esc's at once. Do it with props off to avoid an accidental startup.

 

[yeehaanow]

Maybe I'm wrong. Here's that section from the manual:

4.5.5.2 ESC Calibration
Once again, it is best to follow the instructions in your ESC manual to perform this calibration. However, it is critical that you perform this calibration on ALL of the ESCs in your system. The HoverflyPRO has a “all at once” ESC calibration feature. Follow the steps below assuming your ESC has a throttle calibration mode.
ESC Calibration Procedure
1. Turn on your transmitter.
2. Move the throttle stick to full (all the way up).
3. Connect the battery to the aircraft.
4. All of the ESCs will beep to indicate they are in programming mode (the beep will only be audible when connected to a motor).
5. Once in programming mode, exit programming mode by moving the throttle back to idle (all the way down). 6. Wait for confirmation that programming mode has been exited (usually a series of beeps when connected to a motor).
7. Disconnect your battery from the aircraft and then turn off your transmitter.
8. All of the ESCs are now calibrated for the throttle range of your transmitter.

 

[Bartman]

i thought that that was only to set throttle range in the ESC's. i suppose you could try to program them as well. if the beeps follow the correct sequences then i suppose you're programming them simultaneously (and I was wrong :anonymous: )

 

[Webheadfred]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm in the process of the build and programming them as I make the arms. I'm gonna try the all-at-once programming when I get it all HoverFly'd up. Can't hurt to try I suppose. On another note......

Has anyone tried using the appropriate crimps to the motors instead of solder? I've done a couple of arms with solder and a couple with crimps. I have to say that the crimps are FAR neater and a magnitude faster. I used to use bullet connectors and I thought that the crimps with a professional crimping tool, should work just fine. I also figured that most solder connections fail because of a bad solder technique and not enough heat. Further a good mechanical connection is also required. I'll look more into this and let y'all know. I did use butt connectors that were without insulation and I used my own heat shrink to insulate them. Additionally, I used tinned copper as the crimp. I have to work now so maybe I'll put up a photo tonight and see what y'all think.

Regards,
Fred

 

[Bartman]

would like to see the connections Fred, thanks.

bart

 

[Bowley]

As Bart and Tim say, I'm think you can only throttle cal the ESC's through the HFP, I have not tried programming since the manual says to do it from the Rx.
I would not like to try, as you will have to use the beep method and if they are even slightly out of sync that could be nightmarish and I wouldn't be too confident in the status of all the ESC's.
Totally agree with the crimping method, would also love to see what crimps you are using. I have not had much joy with those programming cards either, had 2 and they both didn't work for some reason, (the blue connect LED illuminates on first connection when I connect in correct sequence). I'm told there is a gadget coming on the market for programming multiple ESC's simultaneously, have no details though.

 

[dzwiss]

After you do the throttle range setup procedure using the Setup Client:

https://hoverflytech.zendesk.com/en...-setup-your-throttle-range-on-the-hoverflypro

You may then calibrate all the ESCs at the same time using the procedure that Yeehaanow outlined from the manual:

ESC Calibration Procedure
1. Turn on your transmitter.
2. Move the throttle stick to full (all the way up).
3. Connect the battery to the aircraft.
4. All of the ESCs will beep to indicate they are in programming mode (the beep will only be audible when connected to a motor).
5. Once in programming mode, exit programming mode by moving the throttle back to idle (all the way down). 6. Wait for confirmation that programming mode has been exited (usually a series of beeps when connected to a motor).
7. Disconnect your battery from the aircraft and then turn off your transmitter.
8. All of the ESCs are now calibrated for the throttle range of your transmitter.

I hope this clarifies things

It has worked flawlessly for me...

David

 

[Bowley]

After you do the throttle range setup procedure using the Setup Client:

https://hoverflytech.zendesk.com/en...-setup-your-throttle-range-on-the-hoverflypro

You may then calibrate all the ESCs at the same time using the procedure that Yeehaanow outlined from the manual:

ESC Calibration Procedure
1. Turn on your transmitter.
2. Move the throttle stick to full (all the way up).
3. Connect the battery to the aircraft.
4. All of the ESCs will beep to indicate they are in programming mode (the beep will only be audible when connected to a motor).
5. Once in programming mode, exit programming mode by moving the throttle back to idle (all the way down). 6. Wait for confirmation that programming mode has been exited (usually a series of beeps when connected to a motor).
7. Disconnect your battery from the aircraft and then turn off your transmitter.
8. All of the ESCs are now calibrated for the throttle range of your transmitter.

I hope this clarifies things

It has worked flawlessly for me...

David

I think it was programming that was the question rather than calibration.

 

[Webheadfred]

Thanks for the feedback guys... I'm still at work till 9pm eastern... I'll get home and try to take some pictures to upload. The crimps seem to be working nicely, but then again, I'm still in the building phase.

 

[Webheadfred]

The crimp connectors I used.

Here ya go... This is what I did.

I bought butt connectors from The Home Depot like the blue ones in the picture. I actually bought several types of connectors as I has several things in mind. I used my nippers and needle nosed pillars to remove the blue shielding as I just wanted the metal part. I know you can buy them unshielded but I didn't see any. It has a little notch so you know how much to strip off. I purchased the industrial crimp tool also at HD. It was about 10" long and has quite a bit of leverage.

I took my stripping tool and just cut through the wire at the correct distance for halfway through the crimp, without removing the insulation. It makes it easier to slide on the heat shrink. I slid the pre-cut heat-shrink on the wire, placed the connecter in the tool with the seam up, and inserted one end in after removing the insulation. I squeezed with both hands to get the most pressure. Repeat with the other side. Slide the heat shrink and heat. Violá!

I tested several things and this seemed to be the neatest. I tried a bigger diameter connector, thinking I would overlap the wires and then solder and then heat shrink, thinking it would give me a smaller joint. It worked, but the connectors I bought were too big and didn't look smooth so I opted for what you see. I may re-explore other methods as it worked really well.

My thought process was, I was using bullet connectors already. This had to be as strong as those were. I tested several before I committed to putting them on the ESC. I couldn't pull them apart as much as I tried. Hope this provides some insight for y'all. Let me now what you think.

 

[Bowley]

Nice Fred, thanks for posting the pics. Have you tried the ratchet style crimpers? much easier on the hands and makes sure you use just the right pressure for a good crimp.